<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Jungle by Beliar_Noctur</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415001">The Jungle</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beliar_Noctur/pseuds/Beliar_Noctur'>Beliar_Noctur</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shelter [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Army Of Two (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure &amp; Romance, Gay, Gender Dysphoria, Implied substance abuse, Internalized Transphobia, M/M, Original Character(s), Slash, Suicidal Thoughts, Trans Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 08:46:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beliar_Noctur/pseuds/Beliar_Noctur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Salem and Rios are supposed to go on a mission to Kuala Lumpur.  Everything doesn't go as planned and they get stranded in a Sumatran jungle.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tyson Rios/Elliot Salem</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shelter [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684285</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The jungle.</p><p>Calling the air humid would have been an understatement. Forebodingly hot and wet to the point of making you feel like you choke was more like it. I couldn’t believe I’d ended up doing such a shit assignment again. Of course, it hadn’t meant to be that way. It never was, right? But here we were, smack dab in the middle of nowhere.</p><p>“Salem, move your ass. We haven’t got all day.”</p><p>“Just admiring the view, you know. So green. So breathtakingly... what’s the word? Dull,” I quipped back, out of breath and throat dry of thirst.</p><p>Tyse was a few meters up ahead, his broad t-shirt covered back more than probably drenched in sweat under his armour. It was still better to keep the shirts on to avoid chafing from the armour’s rough material. They were made to stop bullets, not be comfortable during a who-knows-how-long excursion through a fucking rainforest as thick as the Amazon.</p><p>“Shut your mouth and come ‘ere,” my friend growled sounding slightly annoyed, “Or I’ll make you scout ahead instead.”<br/>
“You just wanna stay behind to oggle my ass,” I smirked and could almost hear him roll his eyes.<br/>
“You’re damn right I’ll have to watch your ass, or you’ll end up getting bitten by a snake,” he countered, “Now, Salem. Don’t make me repeat myself.”</p><p>No matter how much I might run my mouth, I never disobeyed an order from Tyse while on the field and he knew as much. I cursed as I threaded through the thick plants spreading as far as the eye could see, strange bird calls reverberating ominously through the trees, but didn’t say any more remarks as I headed to my partner’s mountain-like form.</p><p>We had been on our way to Kuala Lumpur to meet up with the Indonesian rebels who had hired us to win the awakening civil war against Indonesia’s corrupt leaders. The promised paycheck didn’t have that many zeroes in it, but Tyse had a soft spot for people fighting against the reign of oppression. I had thought that it didn’t sound so bad. I mean, Kuala Lumpur had a very composed city plan, so it probably wouldn’t take that long to get the job done and maybe enjoy a few days crashing at a beach with nothing but white sand and the crystal clear ocean as a prize. But instead of that, we’d ended up getting hit and crashing in a less pleasant way over the neighbouring island of Sumatra, which had a great deal of the Indonesian rainforest growing on it. No beaches to be enjoyed here, that was for sure. If we ever saw the water again, it would probably welcome us with a pack of black caimans – not that those things hunted in groups.</p><p>Once I got over to Tyse, he reached for something clasped to the harness on his waist and offered me his bottle of water without a word. When I didn’t take it, he fixed me with a firm look in his dark eyes: “I don’t want you to bite the dust midway.”<br/>
“Oh, I didn’t know we were that far ahead already,” I commented sarcastically as I took the bottle from his large callused hand. Tyse glared at me as I took a few sips of water more to chase the scratchy dryness from my throat than to quench my thirst. My bottle had run out sometime yesterday and the jungle seemed to be only getting thicker and darker, with only glimpses of the sun peeking through the green leaves heavily shadowing our way. Well, at least sunstroke wouldn’t get us, even if thirst, hunger or snakes did. And since our radio equipment got busted in the crash those seemed like pretty likely scenarios.</p><p>I handed the bottle back to my partner and he nodded his head forward: “Let’s keep moving.” And that we did, until the glimpses of light were getting less and less helpful as the sky darkened somewhere on the other side of the cocoon of trees. I was hungry as hell, my stomach in knots. We’d lost most of our food when we crashed our helicopter and it caught on fire during the bad landing. At this point I would have been glad to see the oh-so-often-mentioned snakes so I could impale one of them with my knife and skin it to get even a taste of meat. Then again, I might end up getting bitten by it’s relatives before getting a chance to enjoy my prey.</p><p>Tyse stopped and I followed suit. His shoulders where down, his stance relaxed, so there was no sign of immediate danger. I watched him assess our surroundings with the cool exterior of a soldier, a man who had seen and breathed peril and disasters. It had been clear to me from the moment I’d met him at the barracks during my arrival in the army: Tyse didn’t take any bullshit. One look at his bulking form and his dark intelligent eyes and I’d known I was gonna get my ass handed to me if I tried to mess with him. Later on, that notion had changed into the knowledge that anyone who tried to mess with me either, was gonna get their ass handed to them. The first time Tyse had come back for me on the field even when everyone else in our company tried to rush him on without me, I’d known he’d never let me down.</p><p>
  <em>“Get your ass here, Salem, or I’ll beat the shit out of you.”</em>
</p><p>From that moment on, I had sworn to myself that I would never let him down either.</p><p>“This is a good spot to make camp,” my friend’s words made me come back from my thoughts. Plants were growing on the ground as thickly as before so the place didn’t seem that different from the rest of the jungle. Then I noticed there was a huge tree on our right with vines climbing its sides. That would probably offer us even better protection from the rain than the smaller trees that surrounded us.</p><p>I was just about to nod in agreement when I heard a low growl that made the hair on my neck stand up. Tyse tensed immediately, his shoulders hunching up and his hand shooting straight for his knife. I had my hand on the right side of my hip already, my fingers on my own knife’s handle. We had left our firearms in the chopper after we had had to make the emergency landing. We had known there would be no telling how long it would take us to get through the jungle and any extra baggage would only be detrimental to our survival. That’s why we had only our light armour on which left us with no shoulder pads and knee pads to slow our way. After hearing that animalistic noise, I wished we had gone with heavy armour instead.</p><p>“Get to the tree, slowly. Don’t start running until I tell you to,” Tyse spoke lowly as if not to aggravate the beast that had noticed us.<br/>
“Tyse, I can handle this – “ I started, but it seemed like this wasn’t up for discussion.<br/>
“Salem. <em>Move</em>,” my partner gritted through his teeth.</p><p>I glanced at him and saw the silhouette of the beast from the corner of my eye. Tyse recognised the fear in my eyes and nodded to me as a sign of noting where the danger was. I nodded back and turned around as I started to advance towards the giant tree in slow non-threatening movements. A chill shot down my spine when I heard an animalistic low rumble behind us and I knew it was getting closer to Tyse. Maybe I should turn around and ditch the plan of getting to safety. My partner was tough but there was no way he could win this thing on his own. I couldn’t just walk away and let Tyse be ripped to shreds while I was trying to save myself.</p><p>A beastly snarl pierced the air and suddenly Tyse was yelling: “Now, Salem!” I started to sprint towards the tree in an explosively fast movement that lit my calfs on fire. My arms hit the tree and I grabbed onto the thickest vine I could find on its trunk. I used the power in my thighs and jumped up to braze myself against it. I had ascended a couple meters when I heard the plants shuffling down below and turned my head to see my partner face to face with a Sumatran tiger. </p><p>I’d always thought Tyse was big, but the beast was massive. It weighed at least 300 pounds and as it circled my partner, its striped frame oozed with power. It planted its huge paws to the ground and I could see the muscles in its back rippling as it crouched low, ready to attack. Tyse didn’t stand a chance.</p><p>I startled when I heard a fearsome bellow and almost accidentally let go of the thick vine I was holding onto. A fierce rush of pride rushed to my chest through my fear when I realised it was my friend who was making the sound, stance unyielding and knife held in a pose ready to fight back. Any lesser man would have chosen to run away in panic, but not Tyse. He was yelling back at the beast like he was a fucking adversary instead of prey. The tiger seemed to sense the attitude of the man before it, since it growled and shifted its weight seeming almost annoyed. But the shout had only prolonged the inevitable, since it was obviously still going to attack him. The time Tyse had bought me was not going to be enough for him, since his time was ticking to its end.</p><p>A sudden idea hit me and I grabbed the vine tighter into my hands as I tensed my thighs and started to climb as fast as humanly possible. I heard the snarls of the tiger beneath me and prayed to dear god or fucking anyone listening to me right now to delay its attack for a little while longer. The tree seemed impossibly high and I almost lost my grip on the vine and wavered, my heart thrumming wildly in my chest, but I yanked it into my fists again and finally made it to the sturdy branch above me. Just as I stumbled myself on top of it, I heard the tiger making its final growl and turned just in time to see it charging towards my partner.</p><p>Tyse rolled out of the way and I saw the striped mass of power landing on its paws amidst the plants instead of onto my partner’s soon-to-be lifeless body. This only made the beast more furious, but as long as anyone was asking me, Tyse wasn’t done just yet.</p><p>“Tyse, dodge one more time!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. My friend flinched in surprise but returned his steely eyes back to the tiger in a flash. It flicked its tail, clearly riled up for its prey putting up this much of a resistance. Then it dashed to my partner again. Tyse tried to roll away from it but was caught in its paws and the tiger let out a victorious rumble as it landed on top of my friend with its full weight.</p><p>I didn’t hesitate a second once I saw the movement of the striped orange beast pouncing my friend. Using the weight of my whole upper body, I threw my knife with flaming determination and watched its trajectory downwards feeling chilled to my core with terror. The tiger let out a low wail as the blade sank into its flank.</p><p>“Now, Tyse!” I yelled as the tiger staggered on top of my partner. Tyse moved with the cold calculation of a soldier even when his veins must have been filled with horror. I watched in terrified fascination when he shoved the huge beast to his left and hit both of his palms against the handle of my knife, burying it to its flesh to the hilt. The tiger let out a pained yelp and Tyse used its surprise to his advantage as he rolled to his side and sprang up on his feet, running like the forest was on fire. He’d gotten about ten meters closer to the tree when the beast gained its balance back. In a haze of panic and crazy adrenaline for the fear of losing my partner, I scrambled free of my armour in record time and threw it towards the tiger rushing towards Tyse. My aim was off since I had hoped to strike the head in a debilitating force, but the armour hit the beast’s feet and it stumbled upon it. It was just enough to slow it down for Tyse to bounce against the tree and jump up to gain headway. I saw him flailing for the vine and grabbing it just in time to get out of the tiger’s way instead of falling to it’s furiously slashing claws and angrily bared teeth.</p><p>My heart was beating in my chest like crazy as I watched the beast clawing at the trunk of the massive tree while my partner climbed towards the branch I was half kneeling, half sitting on. He caught up with me and grabbed onto my arms as I reached to lift him up, my hands shaking with the effort of hoisting his weight up and with the flow of adrenaline coursing through my veins. Tyse’s dark eyes were wide and he was panting in exertion and perhaps shock as he sat down next to me as the beast was left roaring in its disappointment and anger below us.</p><p>“... that was close,” he breathed out and I stared at him, not able to believe that he actually got up here instead of ending up grinded into a bloody mess in the Sumatran tiger’s jaws. Feeling out of myself, I saw myself slapping my friend’s chest, not playfully but furiously:</p><p>“Fuck you, man! Seriously, what the hell were you thinking? Have you got a death wish or what? Don’t you dare pull a stunt like that again, Tyse, or I swear I’m gonna waste you myself just to piss on your remains and – ”</p><p>And then Tyse was pulling me into his arms and I grabbed onto his back, shaking. It was awkward: his chest armor jabbing into my shoulder and armpit, but I couldn’t have cared less. I felt my eyes stinging and only my pride stopped me from crying out loud. Tyse held me and leaned his forehead against my temple:<br/>
“I didn’t want you getting hurt.” I was just about to yank myself free from his arms to start shouting at him: what good was me not getting hurt if he was as good as dead because of that? But I didn’t have time to do any of that, when Tyse pressed a kiss to the corner of my eyebrow. Instead of yelling, I pulled a breath in as my body froze. Suddenly I was feeling lightheaded and it hadn’t even been a real kiss.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he spoke against my temple honestly and rubbed soothing circles into my upper back with his knuckles, “I couldn’t risk it.” I was interrupted from my wildly flailing thoughts when I heard a low groan rising from the ground. We both turned to look at the tiger, circling the foot of the tree in slow motions as the knife jabbed deep into its flesh made it twitch from pain. It glared up with a vengeance, but didn’t jump higher and claw the tree trunk as it had when trying to reach my partner. It stayed there for a while, watching us with hungry eyes, but then it let out a gnarl and shuffled away, its striped figure disappearing into the dark jungle.</p><p>“Well, I guess we’ll be making camp in here for the night then,” Tyse chuckled as he let go of me and I started to laugh with him out of stress. Neither of us wanted to get back down there again, and I just hoped that the tiger would still be gone by morning. Problem was, even though the branch was girthy, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, and we couldn’t make fire. Now that the adrenaline was leaving my system and night had fallen over the high trees, it was starting to get cold.</p><p>“I’ll take the first watch. You get some sleep,” Tyse prompted me.<br/>
“How do you expect me to sleep in here without falling down, genius?” I lifted my eyebrows dryly as I glanced down imagining the effects of tens of meters of fall damage. That would surely do wonders to my complexion, not to mention bone structure.<br/>
“That’s part of the watch,” Tyse brazed his back against the tree trunk and motioned me to come closer, “To see that you don’t.”</p><p>I swallowed as every smart quip I had had in my mind escaped me. I crawled towards my friend and held onto the branch to awkwardly turn around, my back to him.</p><p>“I knew you were just waiting for the chance to stare at my ass,” I smirked a come-back from my frazzled thoughts and glanced at him mischievously over my shoulder. The half-smile that made the scars on the right side of my friend’s face lift up and the glint in his intelligent eyes made my throat feel suddenly dry:<br/>
“Not gonna be far enough to be able to stare.” And then he tapped at the space between his opened-up thighs, his mouth gone serious again, but the look in his eyes almost tantalizing.</p><p>Must have been just my overactive imagination.</p><p>I shuffled over to him, glad for the fact that he couldn’t see my expression, because I could swear I felt a blush creeping up my face. I stopped before we actually touched or anything, and wavered there for a moment. When I didn’t move, Tyse did the decision for me. He grabbed me in his arms, pulling me flush against himself – back to chest, ass to crotch. I felt the heat from my face spreading down to the pit of my stomach and tensed up.</p><p>“It’s okay, buddy,” my friend spoke in his deep, low voice to my ear, “I’m not gonna let you fall.”</p><p>But I was already falling, spinning down as my stomach did a weird flip as he circled his arms around my waist. I let out a shuddering breath, which Tyse mistakenly took for my nervousness about my sleeping position and the inevitable force of gravity. He lifted his right hand up and gently pressed my head against his shoulder in an attempt to make me relax.</p><p>“Hey, it’s okay,” he breathed against my hair and seemed to hesitate for a moment before he kissed the back of my neck softly, “You’re safe here.” A full-blown shudder ran down my spine and made the hair on the nape of my neck stand up. Tyse lowered his hand to put it around my waist as if emphasizing his point of me not being able to fall down on his watch.</p><p>I tried to focus on making the urge to shudder stop, but the cold night air wasn’t helping and I had lost my armour, so I had nothing but a flimsy t-shirt to go by. After a while of shivering against my partner in silence, he lifted his hands up and scooped my arms into my lap so he could put his own arms around them. I still shivered, but not from the cold. But it had been a long day, and fearing for my partner’s life had used up all the last shreds of my energy. After a while of warming up in Tyse’s surprisingly gentle strong arms, I felt my head rolling back against his shoulder as I closed my eyes and wondered what it would feel like to have this warmth back home.</p><p>When I woke up, I had a weird feeling of being late from something and quickly glanced at my surroundings. It wasn’t morning yet, but it seemed to be close, the atmosphere dribbling with anticipation. Tyse was a warm solid weight against my back, his arms draped around my waist to hold me in place.</p><p>“It’s not morning yet,” he grumbled in a sleepy, rough voice that made something hot coil in my stomach, “Go back to sleep.”</p><p>I had to gather my voice from my sleep haze for a moment: “Hey, man, what about you? You can’t stay awake all night.” My friend straightened his posture behind me before leaning sternly against the tree again:<br/>
“I’ve gotten some sleep in my system here and there. Just go back to your dreams, we’ll continue at sunrise.”</p><p>And there wasn’t much I could say as a protest when he pulled me closer and tucked my head under his chin, his arms still around me like an unwavering shield. It felt so good, like I was invincible, impervious to any damage. Damn, this was going to do me in if the jungle didn’t get me first.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At sunrise, neither of us spoke a word of the close proximity we’d had over the night as we prepared to descend the tree trunk. My back was aching and my ass was sore as hell, but for once I decided not to complain about it because at least I had slept pretty well, unlike my partner. We found my armour at the roots of the tree that had basically saved our lives. Sadly, the piece of metal was far from being in good shape. There were scrape marks on the surface, the fabric on it was soaked from the ground and the seams of the fabric were coming apart.</p><p>“Well, gotta admit, kitty had claws,” I commented as I lifted the armour up for my friend to see.<br/>
“Yeah, that it did,” my friend nodded and flexed his shoulders, “And it packed a punch.” I suddenly got a vivid image of him getting shoved under the beast, his massive form nothing compared to the striped monstrosity. It was a wonder he was still alive.<br/>
“Let’s avoid doing that again, okay?” I failed completely in trying to sound careless, my voice betraying my concern. I tried to shrug it off by patting Tyse awkwardly on his shoulder, but the look on his face told me he’d already noticed.</p><p>In the end, we decided to ditch the basically ruined armour and continued onwards. I felt lighter, and slightly less hot than with it, so considering the circumstances, it was good. However, I was hungry as fuck, and even though my body used up most of the drinking water on sweating, my bladder was now constantly reminding me of its existence. When Tyse stopped for a minute to casually open up his fly for the very same reason, my stomach stirred with not just envy, but curiosity too. I wondered what it felt like to be able to do all the little things so easily, without excessively trying. And my mind wandered to picture how it looked like, when you were normal like that.</p><p>A flush of shame was starting to creep up on my cheeks, and I turned to look away from my friend’s broad back and manly stance. There was no way I could go on without a quick stop for myself.</p><p>“Stay here for a sec, let me check something out,” I called out to him feeling nervous. I saw Tyse turning to look me over his shoulder surprisedly:<br/>
“If you heard something, we should go together just in case it’s – “<br/>
“Tyson, I can handle it! Just, wait a sec, okay?” I snapped at him, ashamed of myself. Tyse stared at me, clearly confused of my harsh reaction, but took the hint and nodded. I never called him by his full name.<br/>
“Just don’t take long,” he called after me and I waved my hand dismissively as I headed to the safety of the viney trees and bushes. I glanced around myself and once I was sure Tyse hadn’t followed me, I slid my belt aside and unzipped my cargo pants. I yanked them and my boxers down to my knees and crouched down with my thighs opened up so at least I wouldn’t fucking piss on myself.</p><p>As I pulled my pants back up, I cursed silently to myself. I wished I had my stand-to-pee packer with me. I’d had it with me on the helicopter but not on me. I had felt pretty comfortable with myself and thought, what the hell, no reason to be sweaty during the flight. I had planned on adjusting it back in my pants without Tyse noticing while gathering my gear after landing. If I’d known we’d end up getting hit and leaving the damaged chopper in a hurry to not get burnt or caught I would have thought twice. Well, it was too late to dwell on my mistake now.</p><p>As I returned to Tyse, he gave me a curious look, but didn’t ask any questions. And so we ventured deeper into the jungle, me uncharacteristically silenced by the shame prickling on the edges of my consciousness.</p><p>It must have been some hours later when it started to rain. First, they were only innocent drops of water playing a strangely soothing rhythm across the leaves of the forest. But soon the rhythm got increasingly faster and louder, until it was almost demanding, and I could physically feel the ominous rumble of a storm approaching.</p><p>“We should get to cover,” I opened my mouth and as suspected, my friend was already on it. “And fast,” he nodded decisively, “They don’t call this a rainforest for nothing.” We filled our water bottles, then picked up our pace. I did my best to scan our surroundings for anything that seemed to be even remotely safe from the water now pouring down from the sky. It was getting difficult to see where we were going, since the rain was coming down hard, slashing through the leaves and soaking us completely wet.</p><p>“Look, bro! Over there,” I called out to Tyse who was a couple steps behind me. There were a few vine-covered trees with roots that sprouted partially out of the ground and were entwined with each other. In a way they looked like a strange bio-prison, a cage waiting to fool you into its grip, but right now was not the time to get freaked out by an overly active imagination. That was the best shelter we were going to get, and you’d have to be a fool to dismiss it.</p><p>We threaded through bushes heavy with the weight of water towards the haven I had spotted. Tyse took a few lengthy steps to get ahead of me and held onto his knife as he crouched to check underneath the formation of trees.</p><p>“It’s clear,” he turned to me, his angular face glistening with a sheen of water. He ducked under the roots and I followed suit.</p><p>It was cramped in there. Mother Nature had obviously not designed this shelter to be occupied by two guys, even when one of them was on the smaller side of the male spectrum. But fuck, if the narrow space didn’t make Tyse look huge. He was on his knees and hunching his back to fit in there but that still left my right side slashed by the heavy rain.</p><p>“Wait a sec,” he grunted in a displeased manner and started to strip off his chest armour. When he got it off and pushed it to his side, I swallowed hard. His white t-shirt was completely soaked by the rain and it was transparent, covering nothing at all. If anything, it only emphasized his beautifully powerful features. Every muscle on my friend was pure perfection, strength packed into his decisive form. Tyse was built like a bull, strong and unstoppable. My own t-shirt was ruined, a soggy rag glued to my skin and compared to my friend, I looked like a sorry mess.</p><p>Tyse must have noticed the way I was staring at him, because there was a curious look in his dark eyes. I didn’t have time to come up with a quip that would save my face, when his expression already vanished and he sat down next to his armour, opening up his legs. It was just like back on the tree branch, except this time he was soaking wet and looked absolutely gorgeous.</p><p>“Come on, don’t miss out on the shelter you saw first,” he let out a soft amused chuckle that made me very aware of myself. “Yeah, you just wish you could keep it to yourself”, I tried to save what was left of my reputation and crawled under the roots and into his lap like it was no big deal.</p><p>But it was.</p><p>Suddenly I was shivering and it was not from the cold. I was far from being protected, this was more dangerous than any storm I had ever faced. And no matter how I tried, I couldn’t stop shaking. Tyse didn’t hold onto me this time, but he turned his head so that his breath tickled my ear:</p><p>“You’re cold.” It was more of a statement than a question, but I still nodded, desperate to convince him. “Yeah. Fuck, man, I’m soaked,” I laughed nervously. It wasn’t entirely a lie. The cold wetness was starting to bite into my bones and I couldn’t imagine us ever getting warmer like this.</p><p>“Lessening clothes would be a good idea,” Tyse stated. Just the idea of taking my clothes of in front of him like this made me jolt, and on top of that there was practically no space between us.</p><p>“No way, man! I’m not stripping down in some freaking rain forest!” I protested flinching further away from him. I was surprised to see that Tyse actually looked hurt and I instantly regretted my harsh reaction. It wasn’t like he was trying to make me uncomfortable and I knew that technically he was right. The less there were wet clothes, the faster my body would start heating up.</p><p>“We’re not going to get warm like this,” my friend looked at me steadily in my eyes and spoke in a rational tone. I hated how he could stay so calm and I was all flustered like this. “Fine, but I’m not taking my pants off,” I stated raising my chin up defensively. Tyse nodded in compromise: “The shirts should help to some extent already.”</p><p>It was at this point when my brain actively realized that he hadn’t meant only my clothes but his own too. I turned my eyes away from him to stop him seeing the mortified look on my face and just nodded so I wouldn’t have to speak. I hugged my knees to give him some space and I could feel his elbows against my back as he lifted his own t-shirt and tossed it on top of his armour. </p><p>“Now yours,” Tyse encouraged me. My heart was starting to race. I tried to gather my resolve and started to pull my shirt up. It was plastered wetly to my skin and to only add to my embarrassment, it got stuck before I could pull it off.</p><p>That was when I felt Tyse’s hands on my back, grabbing the fabric of my soggy shirt carefully, like he was trying not to spook a scared animal. My heart leapt into a gallop. There was no way someone’s touch could feel this good.</p><p>My friend pulled my sorry excuse of a shirt over my head and dropped it on top of his own. And then he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and gently pulled me into his embrace.</p><p>I could barely breathe.</p><p>This was crazy. When I had thought that leaning into him on that tree branch had been good, it was nothing compared to him closing me into the feel of his bare, damp skin against my back. He felt amazing, his strong arms almost hesitant around me when he started to rub my shoulders in an attempt to get me warm.</p><p>It worked even better than he could have ever intended. Suddenly I wasn’t cold anymore, but hot – so unbearably hot that I let out an aroused whimper. Hearing my own sound made me bite my lip in shame and I tried to cover up, curl up on myself so Tyse wouldn’t have to touch me. I waited for him to shove me away, because I was <em>repulsive</em>. No friend should react like that to his partner trying to save him from freezing.</p><p>But he didn’t. Instead of that he tensed up and stopped what he was doing, but didn’t pull back. His arms were still around me lightly and I realized he wasn’t going to push me away. He was there for me, like he’d always been. The thought made me shudder involuntarily when the gravity of my feelings hit me. Tyse was my shelter. Had been since the day we had met at the army barracks.</p><p>“Elliot…” his voice was not much louder than a whisper. I was too afraid to hear what he had to say, horrified of being pitied on, so I jumped to my own rescue with nervous babbling:<br/>
“Hey man, listen I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that it’s so cold and… and I uh, I just wanna get warm. I get that it was kinda weird but I hope you didn’t misunderstand or anything and – ”<br/>
“It’s okay,” Tyse said in a gentle tone, but his arms still felt tense around me, “You want me to stop?”<br/>
“No, it’s good man, it’s all good.” Fuck, I was such a horrible liar and also, who the fuck goes around lying to their partner? Guilt landed heavy on my stomach, washing away any remnants of arousement.<br/>
“Yeah, it’s all good,” Tyse promised though the strain in his voice told otherwise, “Let’s get you warm.” He closed his arms more firmly around me but it felt like he was still painfully far away. I pressed my chin against my chest, more alone than in a long time as we sat there in a tense silence while the jungle sang mournfully with the rain.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I felt horrible the next day. It had been two days since we ate our last ration of protein bars and I was past hungry, I was starving. I could hear Tyse’s voice in my head telling me that the human body could survive without food for 3 weeks while resting, so trekking through the jungle for a few days like this wouldn’t kill me. Maybe it would have been a mercy.</p><p>I was shivering even though it was not raining and the guilt of what happened yesterday was weighing on me heavily. My mind was replaying all the moments of my greatest failures on repeat and my skin was hypersensitive to the leaves slapping against my bare skin. It seemed impossible to concentrate on pushing forward, much less staying motivated.</p><p>I tried to focus my eyes on Tyse’s broad back up ahead. He had been really quiet this whole time, his shoulders bulking out broodingly from under his armour. He had his damp shirt tied to the utility belt on his cargo pants as did I. It swatted my thigh with each passing step making it hard not to count them. We must have been walking for a few hours so I guess that had us at about 18000 steps.</p><p>18001<br/>
18002<br/>
18003<br/>
19000<br/>
20000<br/>
30000</p><p>My combat boot hit a root and I toppled over. Tyse was on me before I could blink.</p><p>“Hey, you alright?” his low voice cut pleasantly through my headache.<br/>
“Yeah, bro, I’m okay – whoah, damn,” I cursed as I tried to stand up and faltered landing back on all fours. I felt dizzy, the massive tree trunks and the bushes a flurry of colours swimming in my vision.<br/>
“Salem, you don’t look so good.”<br/>
“It’s nothing a little vacay won’t fix, how ‘bout one of those for a change? And if you even suggest camping in the forest I swear I’m gonna bite your head off. Now lemme just – ”</p><p>And that’s when I threw up. Mostly just bile since there wasn’t much in my stomach.</p><p>“Aww fuck.”<br/>
“It’s okay, Elliot, just take it easy,” Tyse crouched next to me and took a hold of my right shoulder and checked my pulse, then my forehead, “Pulse and temp is high. You’ve got a fever.”<br/>
“Cool, at least I’m not gonna die by snakes. Or the tiger.”<br/>
“You’re not gonna die. Period. We’re gonna get you to safety, get you some meds. Did you get bitten by anything?”<br/>
“Not that I noticed. Didn’t touch any weird plants either.”<br/>
“You’re gonna be okay. Have some water.”</p><p>I felt weak and maybe slightly less dizzy than before puking but still kind of wobbly so I let Tyse open up the bottle for me and took a sip from it.<br/>
“More,” he demanded.<br/>
“C’mon man, we need to ration – ”<br/>
“More,” he repeated sternly, “That’s an order, Salem.”<br/>
“Love it when you get bossy,” I grinned at him, trying to lighten up the mood but did as I was told. The water felt so good on my throat which was burning up from the taste of bile.<br/>
“That’s enough for now,” he soon eased the bottle from my hands, “Let’s get you up.”</p><p>When I rose up I wavered but Tyse was there to grab me and helped me stay upright. I took a few steps and stopped to vomit again. My friend came to wrap his arm around my shoulders to steady me as my stomach cramped.</p><p>“Fuuuuck,” I moaned curling my hands around myself.<br/>
“It’s okay, Elliot, just breathe.”</p><p>I did, shallow at first, but then Tyse started to rub soothing circles on my bare upper back and I started to inhale and exhale more slowly to calm myself. After a while I felt like it was safe to move without the risk of being sick. My stomach had stopped cramping, so that was good, but I felt weak as fuck and I had no idea how much longer we had to go on before reaching a settlement, so yeah, that sucked.</p><p>We started walking, Tyse behind me this time to watch me, but we were going way too slowly and after a few moments I stopped.</p><p>“You need to go again?” he asked calmly and I shook my head.<br/>
“No, man. <em>You</em> need to go. Dunno how long it’s gonna take to get outta here and I’m just fucking slowing you down.”<br/>
“What the hell are you saying.”<br/>
“You need to get out of this fucking jungle Tyse, get to a phone, call for extraction. You can’t do that if you’re stuck here with me.”<br/>
“What the hell do you think you’re saying.”<br/>
“You can always come back for me after you’ve gotten out. Just make sure you call for extraction first.” I was talking complete bullshit and we both knew it.</p><p>“Salem, you are not fucking seriously asking me to leave you here.”<br/>
“I’m not asking, I’m saying. It’s your best shot.”<br/>
“And <em>I</em> am not asking,” Tyse raised his booming voice, “When I’m telling you we are getting out of here together and you need to stop spewing this crap.”<br/>
“Tyse, but I – ” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me, the look in his eyes fierce.<br/>
“No buts. No ifs. Just me and you, walking outta this fucking rainforest. Just watch us.”</p><p>And that was it, that was as clear a command as he could give me. And like the good soldier I was, I just nodded, feeling kind of dumbfounded that he wouldn’t listen to reason, but relieved. <em>So. Fucking. Relieved.</em> That he was not leaving me to die alone in this place.</p><p>As we pushed forward, still too slow because of my state, my mind wandered. I’ve always been afraid of that. Dying alone. Not that much of dying, but dying alone, or just being alone in general. Hell, looking at some of the things I’ve done, it’s a wonder I’m not dead already. And I’m not just talking about the mercenary business. There’s shit that I’ve done in the past, and some new shit that I’ve been doing since getting my hands on that sweet merc cash. Some might say I have a death wish and for all I knew, they might be right.</p><p>I mean, dying is easier than living, isn’t it?</p><p>Just being stuck in this meat prison, getting dragged around by faith or something worse for whatever shit comes my way, it doesn’t really seem worth it. But with Tyse, it somehow does.</p><p>And I know that’s sick. You’re supposed to be fine by yourself, <em>love</em> yourself or some shit like that, but I’ve never been good with that stuff. Never knew how you were supposed to do that. How do you even begin loving something so unlovable? My parents made sure to hit that message home. So I guess that kind of made me what I am. When someone treats you like a dirty mutt for the first time, you yell at them. The second time you flip ‘em. But the third time you hear yourself barking.</p><p>So yeah, I know I’m fucked up. Tyse knows it too, to some extent. But there’s no way he’d stay with me like this if he knew all the sick ways I’m messed up. That’s why I just hang onto him like a little blood-starved leech and hope he lets me.</p><p>I think he gets lonely too, but at least he’s had a real relationship. So what if I never thought highly of that bitch Samantha, but at least he had someone to work all kinds of shit out with. I’ve never had that. Most of my relationships have been one-night stands, or a few months at best. They never last.</p><p>But with Tyse it does. It’s amazing, someone hanging around with me for this long. Even my own parents couldn’t stand me for this many years and to be fair, I haven’t missed them either. But Tyse, he stays – no matter what I do, he sticks around.  That’s why I so desperately don’t want to fuck this up.</p><p>“Here,” my friend’s voice stirred me from my thoughts as he offered the bottle to me again. I drank up, worried that I was going to use up all of our water and just throw it up but knowing full well there was no use trying to go against Tyse in this. My stomach did feel weird but there were no cramps so that was something. I offered the bottle back wordlessly and we kept going.</p><p>There was more sun shining through the thickness of the trees. We might have been closing in on some civilisation or then it might be that we were just getting closer to an old clearing deep in the forest. The landscape seemed to be swaying, like there was a soundless wind breezing through the plantation. I was shivering and I could actually feel the raindrops trickling down my back even though the weather was clear. It was hard to focus my eyes on anything in the endless web of green, leaves swatting against my skin until I was getting caught up in them, melting into them.</p><p>The ground under my boots tilted back and I fell. The soil against my palms was surprisingly comforting. I could just stay here, in the dirt.</p><p>“Elliot, hey, talk to me,” there was worry at the edge of my friend’s voice and in his dark eyes too when I shifted my focus into them.<br/>
“I’m cold but it’s kinda nice here,” I smiled at him and twitched as he checked my pulse again, “Bro, your hands are icy.”<br/>
“You’re burning up.”<br/>
“Too hot to handle,” I tried to grin back but it came out weaker than I wanted. Lame, Salem.<br/>
“Let’s get you up.”</p><p>You’d think that standing up was an easy task but it sure wasn’t when the whole scenery was swinging back and forth.</p><p>“Man, I don’t feel so good.”<br/>
“It’s okay, here.”</p><p>Tyse motioned me to swing my arm over his shoulder and I used his form to steady me as we continued walking. So fucking slowly. Every couple of steps I staggered but my partner didn’t let me fall. The landscape didn’t seem to stay in place and I felt sick looking at its sway so I concentrated on my feet trying not to stumble over the slithering roots.</p><p>At some point I felt like Tyse was carrying me more than I was walking on my own and I was hyperfocused on the strain in his neck and deltoids, the sweat drops running down his skin that were making my hand slippery on his shoulder. There was less light now. Maybe the sun was going down or we had passed a clearing and were just so deep in the forest that it was darker. I couldn’t fix my eyes on any single target long enough to tell.</p><p>My friend stopped and let me hang onto his utility belt as he wordlessly chucked off his armour. Then he knelt down and lifted me onto his shoulders into a fireman’s carry with a grunt before pushing forward.</p><p>I had no idea how he still had strength left in his body since mine felt like a useless sack of tar. But Tyse was all focus now. I could hear him inhaling and exhaling deliberately in time with his steps, calming his pulse and perfecting his energy consumption.</p><p>He hadn’t stopped even for a moment to rethink my suggestion of getting out on his own. The likelihood of either of us surviving was slim, but as I was safely wrapped around Tyse’s shoulders, I didn’t have it in me to feel so bad about it right now. At least I was not gonna be on my own when the inevitable happened. Before fading out I had a fleeting thought that made me oddly happy.</p><p>
  <em>Damn, Salem. You’re more lucky than you think.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was dusk or night when I came to. Not on Tyse anymore, but alone, lying down on a bed and staring at a ceiling with round lights switched off. I looked around to find myself in a white clinically clean room with other people sleeping in metal-framed beds, and I was hooked on a drip. My head was aching and I was cold even under the green blanket but I didn’t feel nearly as horrible as in the jungle. So, we had made it after all. Huh, who would have guessed.</p>
<p>
  <em>Always the pessimist, Salem.</em>
</p>
<p>I sat up carefully and was relieved that my stomach didn’t do any weird lurches. I was still weak, hungry and thirsty, but at least the drip kept me hydrated enough so there was no immediate danger anymore. I assessed my surroundings more now that I was properly awake.</p>
<p>This was a Sumatran hospital, that much was clear. Judging by the slow sounds of breathing around me, all of the other patients were sleeping so it was probably night time. There were no folding screens to offer privacy so I could easily count that there were five other people here besides me. I was in the corner next to the small window which was so high up that I couldn’t see anything more than the dark sky. The man in the bed across me had gauze wrapped all around his head so he must have hurt himself badly. None of the others seemed externally damaged.</p>
<p>It seemed to be a small hospital since larger establishments usually had different levels of injuries in their own departments and could afford larger windows and folding screens to separate patients as well. It was somewhere around East Sumatra on the basis of what our course had been through the jungle.</p>
<p>As I wondered if Tyse had already managed to make a call to Alice for the disposal of our chopper and to get us extraction I noticed that I was dressed in a green hospital gown under the blanket. And I had some kind of short cotton pants instead of my boxers. My mind went instantly to panic mode.</p>
<p>Someone had undressed me, of course they had! Fuck! They couldn’t leave me in my soaked cargo pants. While I knew that it was the rational thing to do, I was being anything but rational right now.</p>
<p>Had Tyse been there when the doctor stripped me down, seen what a freak I was underneath? Had they exchanged words of shock or of curiosity, had my friend stood there as the doctor planned to take me as their guinea pig, too exciting and grotesque to let go? Had he been interested in my abnormality or felt fooled, played? His partner, secretly an abomination all these years working together.</p>
<p>There were voices approaching from the corridor next to the room and I turned to my side and perched on my left elbow trying to hear them better.</p>
<p>“Dia demam tinggi. Uh-uh, four zero Celsius.” It was a woman’s voice, mostly speaking Indonesian and some English with a thick accent.<br/>“Forty Celsius? So about 105 Fahrenheit, that is high. Is he going to be all right?” That was Tyse’s low voice without a doubt, pronunciating clearly. I turned more towards them to raise myself on both of my elbows, excited and relieved at the same time, my previous worries withdrawing to the back of my mind for now.<br/>“Mm-hmm. Saya akan... memberinya... <em>obat</em>.” There were silences between her words and emphasis on the word “obat”. I imagined that she was gesturing to my partner as she was speaking. Which was probably a good thing since even though Tyse was good at a lot of things, Indonesian was not his strong suit.</p>
<p>“Medicine, obat, yes. They are… <em>pills</em>… to swallow, right? He doesn’t like… <em>shots</em>.” A warmth opened up in my chest. Tyse still obviously remembered the times he had had to use adrenaline on me and how I had been terrified beforehand and whining like hell afterwards.<br/>“No shot. Pil obat. Saya akan... <em>pergi</em>... <em>mengambil</em>... pil obat sekarang”, she promised there would be no shots – which made me relieved since even the drip was unpleasant enough – and gestured something with her Indonesian that pleased my friend:<br/>“Yes, please. Thank you.”</p>
<p>I heard her footsteps starting to recede but then she stopped.</p>
<p>“Apakah dia pasanganmu? Partna?” she asked with a heavy accent. Tyse was silent for a few seconds before answering warmly:<br/>“Yes, he’s my partner.”<br/>“Mm-hmm!” came her friendly reply and then she walked off.</p>
<p>I didn’t have time to think what to do with Tyse’s affectionate words before he was already in the same room with me. Dressed in green pants and a green T-shirt too small for him, buttoned up only half-way, he looked kind of ridiculous, but was such a welcome and familiar sight to my eyes that I sighed. He gave me a once-over with his dark eyes and shook his head as he smiled.</p>
<p>“El, you’re awake. Thank God you’re such a tough son-of-a-bitch.”<br/>“It’s all thanks to you big guy,” I huffed as I sat up again, “Who the fuck carries someone through a rainforest after a three-day hike?”</p>
<p>It was incredible what the man was capable of. But Tyse didn’t stop to bask in the glory of his prowess, just crossed the room to me and bowed down to wordlessly cradle me in his arms. The gesture made my heart, the sorry fucker, jump into a storming rhythm and my brain stuttered to a halt for a moment before I awkwardly hugged him back.</p>
<p>“I’m just glad you’re okay”, he spoke against my shoulder.<br/>“Yeah, me too, man,” I mumbled nose pressed to his clavicle. I could smell his familiar scent, oaklike and sweaty from all the exertion but still pleasant. I stayed there for a moment, chest soaring from the warm intimacy, the feeling of being safe and cared about. I clenched my jaw and clapped him on the back to keep it less embarrassing as I had to rip myself away.</p>
<p>“Glad you got us here, but what the hell are you wearing, you look ridiculous!” I hushed myself to a half-whisper at the end there remembering all the other patients.<br/>“They didn’t really have my size,” Tyse stated matter-of-factly in his booming bass, highlighting the contrast to my higher nasal voice. Even that notion couldn’t keep me from snickering.<br/>“No shit Sherlock!” I snorted as I looked at him.</p>
<p>The pants were somewhat alright but the light green cotton t-shirt was anything but. It looked as if someone had tried to stuff a bull into a purse and decided it was all good. The fabric was tight against his beefy abdomen and even more stretched on his bulky chest where he had had to leave the buttons open all the way down to his sternum.</p>
<p>It would have been kind of hot if the sight wasn’t so absurd.</p>
<p>“Are you gonna fly us outta here like that?” I half-heartedly tried to stop myself from laughing at him and pressed a microphone-like fist against my mouth as it widened into a mischievous grin, “<em>This is Captain Rios speaking. Please enjoy your flight but expect some turbulence as I struggle to lift my hands to the controls in my suffocating shirt. They didn’t really have my size.</em>”</p>
<p>“No fly!” a stern female voice stated with a strong accent from the door. The patient next to me shifted in their sleep at her voice and we both turned to look at her. She was a petite middle-aged woman dressed in a doctor’s uniform and the terra-cotta brown skin of her face was framed by a simple white hijab scarf. Tyse looked pleased to see her and I realised she must be the same person he had spoken to.</p>
<p>“Pil obat,” she offered me a tray which had food on it: noodles, chicken and an egg on one plate, some kind of green soup or broth in a small bowl and what appeared to be rice porridge in a larger bowl. My mouth was already salivating at the thought of eating when I noticed the tray also held a couple of pills in a small plastic cup and a white plastic mug with water in it. That made me remember my headache again and I took the tray and the medicine on it without complaints. Then I went straight for the porridge.</p>
<p>“Ah!” she let out a laugh and waved her hand to stop me, “Campur sup bersama.” She made a motion with her hand like she was using a spoon to lift the rest of the food into the porridge and then gestured to pour the green soup into the porridge bowl as well.<br/>“Oh, okay,” I just nodded, not knowing how to tell her I didn’t really care as long as I got to eat anything, but did as I was told. I mixed all the ingredients into the porridge, even cracked the egg out of its shell and plopped it in, which she looked pleased about. It was a strange looking mixture now, a mess of green and grayish white with chicken bits poking out awkwardly and didn’t really look that appetizing. But when I spooned it in my mouth, it tasted flavourful and I ate with vigor. </p>
<p>“What about you Tyse?” I asked half-way in, slurping over my bowl, but Tyse just smiled at me.<br/>“Don’t worry about it, I already got some when I brought you in.”<br/>It only took me a moment to spoon it all up and after I’d lifted the bowl to my lips to drink the excess liquid I turned to the doctor.</p>
<p>“What do you mean, no flying?” I gestured an airplane flying through the air with my hand. Alice would probably send another helicopter though but that was besides the point of getting my message across. She shook her head:<br/>“Anda mengalami... <em>demam</em>... <em>tinggi</em>.”</p>
<p>At the word demam she made a gesture of putting something in her armpit and at tinggi she lifted her hands up. A high fever.<br/>“Yeah, I get it, but couldn’t I just… <em>fly</em> home and <em>drink</em> more <em>pills</em>?” I pantomimed drinking up more medicine.<br/>“No,” she forbade it, “Demam akan <em>semakin tinggi</em>.” She lifted her hands higher and higher.</p>
<p>“But I – did you already get us extraction?” I turned to my friend for help but he shook his head no.<br/>“I called Alice on the hospital’s phone, but just gave her the sit-rep and asked her to dispose of the mess at our approximate landing zone. I didn’t ask for a transport, the doctor didn’t give you clearance to travel yet. Your fever was 105 Fahrenheit, Salem. That’s a lot. No wonder you passed out.”<br/>“But couldn’t I just get treatment back home? I don’t need to do the flying, Alice will probably send us one chopper with a pilot so – ”<br/>“You were <em>delirious</em>, Elliot! I watched you vomit and trash around in the jungle, asking me to leave you and ramble all kinds of bullshit just a few hours ago!”<br/>“That wasn’t bullshit, it was being sensible.”<br/>“Oh, is that right? Elliot Salem, <em>the sensible one</em>, only making the most calculated decisions.”<br/>“It was the best shot you had.”<br/>“The <em>best</em> shot I – you really think the best course of action would have been to leave you to rot in there and what – call Alice, <em>hey can you send a helicopter and oh yeah, a casket for Salem, I just left him in the jungle alone</em>. Or what, come back to give you a nice little ceremonial burial with the tiger? How in the <em>fuck</em> would that have been my best option?”</p>
<p>Tyse was fuming, and I was taken aback – it was rare to see him this agitated. By now at least a couple of patients had stirred awake from their sleep to witness our commotion. The doctor placed her hand on my friend’s arm calmingly.</p>
<p>“No fly,” she spoke gently and held Tyse’s gaze, “Pasangan Anda… partna be okay.”</p>
<p>Tyse took a couple of deep breaths, avoiding my face with a dark look in his eyes, his thick brows furrowed over them. He nodded at the doctor who lowered her hand away.</p>
<p>“Tyse,” I tried to reconcile, “Listen man, I… I get it, it’s just that… you know I don’t like hospitals. The sooner we’re outta here the better.”<br/>My friend glanced at me with a wounded look in his eyes and then turned away again, but seemed to consider it. His expression made guilt drop straight into my stomach.</p>
<p>“I’ll see what I can do,” he said and headed towards the door but turned around, “I’ll be back soon.” And then he left. The doctor made sure I got to the bathroom and then made it clear that I should rest. She checked up on the other patients, brought some of them meds and water and then went on her way. Soon the ones woken up by our argument were fast asleep. I lay awake staring at the round light fixtures, wondering if Tyse was mad at me.</p>
<p>It was usually me whose temper lit up fast and died down just as swiftly. Tyse was different. Although I knew me running my mouth and my brash decisions irritated him, he usually kept his cool, could bark out a warning to keep me in line but I rarely saw him get really furious. When he did, it could take him a moment to calm the storm.</p>
<p>I hated fighting with Tyse. It always made me feel small, scared. It wasn’t like I needed to fear for my physical safety with him but it felt weird and wrong to be on the receiving end of him boiling up. You’d think I was used to it, with my childhood and all. But I guess that just made it more scary. To watch Tyse get offended and wonder if he would forgive me. He always had to this day, but it still made me anxious every time.</p>
<p>I crossed my hands over my chest and lay there deep in my thoughts for some time before restless dreams washed over me.</p>
<p>In the middle of the night I sensed someone next to me, but the presence felt calming so I didn’t flinch, just took the situation in sleepily. There was a bulky figure sitting by the side of my bed in the darkness, leaning on his knees. He was so unmistakably familiar that I relaxed and drifted back to sleep in a matter of seconds.</p>
<p>When I next opened my eyes, it was lighter and the atmosphere had the soft slowness of an early morning.</p>
<p>Tyse sat beside my bed in his own clothes again – keeping watch, arms resting in his lap. He had a quiet look about him but he seemed calmer than when he left last night.</p>
<p>“Hey there,” I gave him a small smile.<br/>“Hey,” he smiled back at me with his dark eyes, shadows under them, “How’d you sleep?”<br/>“Okay. Did you get any sleep?”<br/>“The doctor let me stay in here when I came back.”<br/>“Don’t tell me you spent the whole night in that sorry excuse of a chair.”<br/>“It’s a good enough chair.”</p>
<p>I rubbed my palms over my eyes feeling tired.</p>
<p>“Listen man, about yesterday…” I started.<br/>“No, Elliot, it’s… I know.”</p>
<p>We were silent for a while like we were both testing the atmosphere, not wanting to break the unspoken truce.</p>
<p>“About what you asked… The doctor still doesn’t want you to fly yet, and I agree with her,” he noticed my worry for the thought of having to stay in the hospital for longer and hurried to calm me down, “But I got an alternative. First we’ll need the doctor’s approval and she’ll give it if your fever has started to come down.”</p>
<p>He lifted his hand to press it gently on my forehead. There was something about the touch, his whole presence, that was really comforting. All the distress from yesterday was gone. I closed my eyes for a moment.</p>
<p>“I don’t think it’s as bad as before but we’ll leave it to the expert,” he mused and pulled back. I blinked my eyes a couple of times to clear my head.<br/>“So, what did you have in mind?” I was curious.<br/>“When we exited the jungle and you were still out cold, we arrived at an area of rice fields. There was a farmer, Ibrahim, making a last round on his crops. He helped me get you to the hospital. I went to visit him last night and he promised to take us in.”<br/>“Wow. How did you even manage that conversation?”<br/>“With a lot of gestures and a hefty amount of patience from both of us,” my friend let out a deep chuckle. I loved that sound, it always made me feel right at ease. Like I had just arrived home. </p>
<p>“Man, you’re really something,” I shook my head lightly and gave him an amused smile, “Leave it to you to make friends with all the locals.”<br/>“Well, not all of them,” he pointed out and it was true. The rebels who hired us were probably not happy and no wonder. We had been supposed to be their trump card.<br/>“What do you think they did when we didn’t show up on time?” I wondered.<br/>“Hopefully they didn’t advance by themselves. I asked Alice to refer this to a good PMC, someone reliable, and fast. Yesterday, she promised to look into it and said she was gonna contact the clients about the hold-up right away. ”<br/>“Who the hell is she gonna refer this to? Not that guy Furimoto I hope. He’s a fucking nutcase.”<br/>“Aren’t most mercs?<br/>“It’s like you’re tryin’ to imply something.”<br/>“It just comes with this line of work, I guess.”<br/>“Yeah, maybe. Or maybe it’s just us crazies who pick this kinda job. But referring a job away is fucking rare, man. Aren’t you worried about that sweet reputation of T.W.O. you’ve been trying to uphold?”<br/>“Not really.”<br/>“That’s rare for you Mr. Boyscout. What about the lost dough?”<br/>“There’s more to life than fame and fortune, El.”</p>
<p>There was something in his tone that stopped my bantering, like he was reprimanding me but his eyes were amused, warm. Damn, that look got me everytime. I felt naked, like he could see right through all my bullshit.</p>
<p>“Yeeah, maybe. Like the things you get with ‘em,” I grinned in a suggestive tone. The unspoken words <em>bitches and booze</em> hung heavy in the air. I’d said it enough times to make my point come across even without saying it out loud. <em>More bullshit, Salem</em>. I had bathed in it for so long that I couldn’t seem to swim ashore anymore.</p>
<p>Tyse was silent for a moment and then gave me a twitching half-smile that lifted the scars on his face up for a moment.</p>
<p>“Hey, if that’s what you want for your vacay, sure thing, Salem.”</p>
<p>Before I could even decide in my own head if going to Vegas to test our luck and get the attention of pretty gold-diggers was what I really wanted, the petite doctor from yesterday stepped in.</p>
<p>“Selamat pagi,” she greeted me and I just nodded and tried to smile back. I felt kind of stupid having never been good with languages. She didn’t seem to mind though as she smoothly handed me my breakfast tray and new pills. I noticed that I did have a medium headache so I took the pills and water first and then dug into the plateful of rice, cucumber, carrots, shallot and neatly rolled up omelet pieces covered in what appeared to be soy sauce. As I was eating the doctor asked what kinds of symptoms I had now by speaking Indonesian and using gestures. I admitted the headache but downplayed feeling weak, gesturing that I felt quite well in general. Tyse glanced at me with a doubtful look at that point but didn’t say anything.</p>
<p>Yeah, so what if I still felt a bit weak? It wasn’t that bad and fuck me if I was gonna stay here surrounded by the clinical shades of white and green and have the drip latched onto me for one more day. I was getting nervous when she took the thermometer out, because there was no bullshitting that thing. As it did its work, the doc checked on the other patients. Most of them were still asleep. She added some medication on the drip for the man across the room with his head all wrapped up. He was probably in a lot of pain, but mercifully sleeping. The patient next to me was starting to wake up so she got them a tray as well and then came back to read the thermometer's judgement.</p>
<p>“Three nine Celcius.” That was about 102 Fahrenheit. Not optimal by any means and I could feel it, the weakness and the headache that had only been kept away by my previous dose of meds. But it was an improvement.</p>
<p>I gave Tyse a hopeful look, but the doctor didn’t look particularly convinced. For the next few minutes I ate the rest of my breakfast and followed with interest as Tyse used every bit of his negotiation skills. Mostly in pantomime. His rough exterior could really fool you – many people had thought foolishly that he was all brawn and no brains – but looking at him go for it was downright impressive.</p>
<p>And so the doctor was persuaded.</p>
<p>She made sure we understood we needed to get me more medicine to take three times a day and drew us a map to the drugstore that was close by. Apparently the place we were in was called Tembilahan, a small city but it had all the necessities we needed for now. I finally got rid of the repulsive IV and changed into my own dried up clothes in a wheelchair accessible toilet.</p>
<p>I was all pumped up to get some air and head to the drug store but that idea got a strict no from Tyse. Since I had already gotten out of the hospital and I was in no mood to argue after yesterday, I just grumbled at his reasoning half-heartedly and followed him to Ibrahim’s home which was not that far from the hospital. The walk was less than an hour but I was still embarrassingly wiped out once we got there.</p>
<p>Ibrahim was a wiry little man, sporting a grey moustache on his otherwise hairless sun-dried wrinkly face. He was working with other people on the rice field close by as we arrived and came to our help. He didn’t speak a word of English but seemed really friendly with his twinkling eyes and smile.</p>
<p>“I promised to help him on the fields while you get better,” Tyse told me as the farmer showed us in his small but cozy home which thankfully had a crude air conditioner standing on a pedestal.<br/>“Seems fair,” I nodded, and tried to push down the guilt of not being able to be of any use.</p>
<p>The house had a modest living room and a kitchenette connected to it. The bathroom was narrow but the toilet seemed to be in good condition and it had a sink and a shower so I had no complaints. Ibrahim gave me a thin white towel but waved at us to first follow him past the bathroom to another room which was revealed to be a separate bedroom.</p>
<p>He gestured that this was where I could sleep and showed me a neat pile of clothes on the single size bed. I was nowhere near as big as Tyse but bulkier than Ibrahim at least so I wondered how the clothes would fit me.</p>
<p>“Ini bukan milikku,” he shook his head with laughter at my expression and indicated that the clothes were not his.<br/>“Mereka adalah sepupu saya,” he pointed at the clothes and then outside towards the fields with his index finger. So they were someone else’s, maybe a worker or a friend of his. I spread the clothes out and tried holding them in front of me for sizing. The shorts were a bit big which was better than the other way around, and the sleeveless top looked like it would fit me nicely. There was also an extra blanket on the bed which was really considerate of him on top of it all.</p>
<p>“Thank you.” I put my hands together and bowed to him, wanting to sincerely express my gratitude.<br/>“Sama-sama,” his thin lips widened into a smile. He got ready to go back for work and Tyse told him he was going to get me <em>pil obat</em>, and then he’d follow him. Ibrahim nodded at him smiling and then left us by ourselves.</p>
<p>“You gonna be okay?” my friend asked in his low voice.<br/>“Gonna be bored as hell, but yeah, sure,” I cringed inwardly at my nasal voice and at the fact that I was not gonna be just bored, I felt guilty. Tyse seemed to pick up on that, he always had been way too perceptive. The man had a bad habit of getting under my skin.<br/>“Listen Salem, if it was me with a fever I wouldn’t be going out either. Hell, I’d probably still be at the hospital, but you’re one stubborn S.O.B so...”</p>
<p>That made me grin.</p>
<p>“So here we are,” I smirked unapologetically.<br/>“Here we are,” he mused and there was a warm glint in his eyes.</p>
<p>Suddenly I was struck by the fact that this was the first time in days that we were actually <em>safe</em> and it was just the two of us – staying at a hospital was definitely far from being safe if anyone asked me. My mind, the traitorous bitch, was instantly filled with the images of us in the jungle, being pressed up against Tyse up in the tree and then flush against his wet bare skin under the roots. I wondered what could have happened if I hadn’t been scared shitless and would have just grabbed him by his neck and kissed him then.</p>
<p>Fuck. <em>Knock it off Salem, never gonna happen.</em></p>
<p>“So, uh, I guess I’ll head to the shower then,” I tried to shake free of my previous train of thought and averted my friend’s eyes. Lucky for me the flush that had spread to my neck and face could probably be read just as fever.</p>
<p>“Yeah, sure,” he sounded a bit baffled like he had sensed the shift in the atmosphere, “I’ll go get your meds.” He stopped at the door though.<br/>“Elliot, I – ” it seemed like he was battling with himself on what to say next, “Just try to rest up and don’t do anything stupid, okay?”<br/>“Can’t promise nothing like that.”<br/>“Salem…”<br/>“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about me big guy. I’ll rest up if just to stop your bitching.”</p>
<p>Tyse scoffed at that. It wasn’t the first time I accused him of being mother-hen-like, but he never seemed to take real offense at that.</p>
<p>“Can’t promise anything like that,” he just smirked before heading out.</p>
<p>I went straight for the shower, feeling all grimy and sweaty, and admittedly tired as well even though I had slept in a real bed yesterday unlike my friend. When the cool water washed over me, I sighed in relief. It felt good. Too bad I couldn’t wash away all my uninvited thoughts.</p>
<p>
  <em>You’re a scared little chicken shit and that’s why nothing’s ever gonna change.</em>
</p>
<p>There was some truth to that. But I was beyond scared, I was fucking terrified. There was no way that I was willing to risk what I had with Tyse. He had stood by me for so long, fuck if I knew why, but I was not ready to let that go by failing him as a friend. And last time I checked, friends did not make advances on each other.</p>
<p>
  <em>You really think you can jam all those thoughts back inside you and forget them? I think not.</em>
</p>
<p>Well, I had done a pretty banging job on that until recently so who was to say I couldn’t keep doing it? I was good at that, telling myself what I couldn’t have and what I wasn’t and drinking up until my mind was numbed out enough to let me be. After returning from an assignment and once the rush of adrenaline had left my system, it was the next best thing.</p>
<p>But alas, since there was no booze, no sources of adrenaline, and I was already exhausted from our walk to Ibrahim, once I’d finished up with showering I headed to bed. It took some time, but I succumbed to a restless sleep with flashing images of the rain ridden leaves on my skin, past fire fights and Tyse facing off with a striped shadow lurking in the forest.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>True to my assumption, the next few days were boring as hell, but the evenings were pleasant. That was when Tyse and Ibrahim returned from the fields and I got to listen to Tyse’s stories on what he had done and learnt that day. I hadn’t even heard of rice and fish farming before coming here, but it seemed like a smart move. The way I understood it from my friend’s explanation was that the rice had been planted in wet soil, and the fish had been added afterwards. They ate the insects and weeds, making the use of chemicals obsolete. And since the fish gained sustenance that way, you didn’t have to invest a lot of money to keep them growing. Once they had more than doubled in size you could catch them in nets and throw the small fish back in to let them gain more weight.</p>
<p>On the third day of staying in at Ibrahim’s house he came to get me when I had half-woken up from a nap. My fever was still clinging onto me like a curse, but I was getting better and I had just taken my meds an hour ago, so I was feeling pretty good.</p>
<p>It was hot outside without the air conditioner which our host had let me borrow during our stay. There were crickets chirping and the sounds of Ibrahim’s farmers conversing nearby. Then I heard a familiar deep laughter carrying over their voices.</p>
<p>For a man who had been working outside all day without a shower, Tyse looked pretty damn good. There was a light glow of sweat on his tawny beige skin and his white t-shirt was plastered against his bulky torso. There was a smile on his lips, free of the worry lines on his jagged face. The scars crossing his cheek and chin looked light under the sun, making the memory of how he got them feel like a distant bad dream withering away at first light. He seemed carefree, happy.</p>
<p>Then he noticed me approaching them with Ibrahim and his smile widened into a pleased grin.</p>
<p>“Salem, come look at this!”</p>
<p>The first thing that I saw was the feast that our host and his workers had laid out on a blanket on the ground: rice in a large bowl, a plentiful amount of grilled fish and multiple bowls with different colourful vegetables. But then I saw what Tyse was referring to. There was a cream-coloured dog with a pointy snout, circling the food and the workers with the unmistakable excitement of a puppy. It was missing one earlobe but seemed healthy otherwise.</p>
<p>“Look at that,” I let out a laugh when the pup let out a high whine as it was denied access to the centre of the food festivities. When we got close I squatted down, let my left elbow rest on my thigh and offered my other hand forward. The dog came up to me with a strange hobble and I noticed it was missing more than just an ear.</p>
<p>“Tough luck, buddy,” I looked at its amputated left hind leg as it pressed its wet dark brown nose against my palm and sniffed away, “But you seem to be doing alright.”</p>
<p>“Namanya adalah <em>Raja</em>,” one of the farmers said, a middle-aged man with a bit of a gut but a healthy look about him.<br/>“Raja, huh?” I tried petting its back a bit and it let me before it realised I wasn’t going to give it food and yelped.<br/>“She’s Yusuf’s dog,” Tyse told me and the same middle-aged man nodded at me and then gestured that I should give the puppy some fish. She made even more noises at that, happy ones, and we all laughed at her enthusiasm.</p>
<p>That evening I felt more content than in a long while. I’d gotten to do a quick tour on the rice plantation with Tyse and Yusuf and then helped Ibrahim clean up the plates and bowls of our feast. Raja had followed us around before Ibrahim had gently hushed her away after giving her the leftover fishbones.</p>
<p>“Today was nice,” Tyse mused leaning his bald head against the single bed I was laying on. The back and sides of his skull were starting to show a short crop of dark hair.<br/>“Sure was,” I replied while toying with the hem of my sleeveless shirt. Tyse had gotten clothes to loan as well, but the light collar shirt had been too small so he was only wearing the shorts now. He smelled fresh from the shower he had just taken.</p>
<p>“I miss my TV though,” I sighed looking at the slightly chipped white ceiling.<br/>“I hear you. I miss my books,” Tyse stated.<br/>“Damn you Mr. Sophisticated, there you go with the one-upping.”<br/>“It’s not one-upping when it’s the truth. You can get really immersed in a good book, you should try it some time.”<br/>“Nah, I’d just rather bicker your ass off.”</p>
<p>Tyse chuckled low on his throat at that:<br/>“Ain’t that right.”</p>
<p>We sat there in a comfortable silence for a while. I felt more at home in here than in that sorry flat that I vacated. Ibrahim’s house was not fancy in any way, but it felt like an actual person lived here and not just a half-shadow who spent most of his time trying to distract himself and the rest of it crawling into bed after a draining day or an all-nighter. And here I could hear Tyse talk about his new plans on where he would like to take time off or on the other hand how to make more money for T.W.O. and butt in with my crazy ideas on how to spend all that cash. And it felt calming to listen to Tyse’s deep breathing when I was falling asleep.</p>
<p>“I’ve been thinking about that day at the hospital,” my friend’s words cut into my pleasant line of thought.<br/>“Tyse, what – ” I started out rising up to lean back on my elbows, confused that he brought this up now.<br/>“No, just listen to me El, okay?” he asked so I did, “I’m sorry I lost my temper. I understand how that must have felt bad, with your background and all. I didn’t realize it then but I do now. I just got mad about the thought of you asking me to leave you. You do know that I would never do that to you, don’t you?”</p>
<p>I lay there, feeling like my heart had suddenly jammed itself on my throat.</p>
<p>“Even if I deserved it?”<br/>“Don’t you go talking shit like that, Salem. You don’t deserve it.”<br/>“What if I did? You don’t know all the shit I’ve done – ”<br/>“I know enough to know you.”</p>
<p>Now the guilt and panic I had felt at the hospital were both mixing together and I was sitting up to collect my thoughts. If I did this, there was no coming back. But I felt like he deserved to know.</p>
<p>"There's something you need to know… About me, bro. I don't know if the doc told you something, but I… I didn’t always look like this.”<br/>“She told me.” It felt like a sledgehammer was swung straight to my abdomen and the colour drained from my face.<br/>“Fuck!”<br/>“Elliot, it’s okay,” he turned to look me in the eye, “This changes nothing for me. You’re still you.”</p>
<p>We sat there silent for a moment before Tyse spoke again.</p>
<p>“You remember Mendez?”<br/>“Our former Sergeant? Sure, she was hot.”<br/>“She sure was. She’s also trans.”<br/>“What, you mean like, Mendez is actually a trans guy too?” I looked at him surprisedly.<br/>“No, I used to think she’s a guy.”<br/>“Oh. Ohhhh.”</p>
<p>We spent another moment in silence as I processed my partner’s words.</p>
<p>“I thought she was a gay man when I served under her before you joined,” Tyse continued, “Found out later that she’s actually into women when she gave me a talk as she was starting to transition. She told me she was gonna give me hell if I started acting up because of it. And you remember Mendez, she used to really rake us over the coals.”<br/>“Yeah, just the memory of all those burpees makes me feel sick,” I grimaced, “I’m glad she moved to the private sector way before us. But maybe with her we could have avoided all that shit with Dalton.”<br/>“Yeah.”</p>
<p>There was a dark look in Tyse’s eyes as we both thought about that double-crossing bastard.<br/>“I’m glad that fucker’s dead,” I said.<br/>“You and me both.”</p>
<p>There was another silence after that, more comfortable than the last, but I felt nervous.</p>
<p>“You sure you’re okay with me being trans? Like, you’re not angry I didn’t tell you or anything?”<br/>“Why would I be? Like I said, it doesn’t change anything,” he turned his head to fix his dark gentle eyes on me, “You’re still the same mouthy little fucker who I can barely keep in line. But look at us, here we are.”</p>
<p>Flawed, but complete together.</p>
<p>“Tyse…” I swallowed, feelings welling up and making my throat sore. My friend turned towards me and leaned his elbow on the side of the bed. The look in his eyes made me scared of how strongly I felt for him, but also raw, naked.<br/>“It’s you and me against the world,” he spoke with conviction, “Ain’t nothing getting in between that.”</p>
<p>I heard myself letting out a desperate laughter.</p>
<p>“I’m so tired of being scared, man,” I buried my head in my hands, “And this, being here, it’s… it’s good. I mean, I’m going crazy by not being able to do anything, but at least I’m not by myself. It’s always me by myself Tyse.”<br/>“It doesn’t have to be like that.”</p>
<p>That made me look at him from behind my hands.</p>
<p>“Listen, I’ve been thinking… I’ve been saving up, to get a place of my own. Somewhere in New City maybe. There are state parks nearby and the Hudson river is less than 5 miles from the center. And it’s less than 40 minutes to the Breakneck Ridge by car. There’s one potential three-room apartment becoming vacant in a couple of months. Would feel awfully empty just by myself.”</p>
<p>Now my hands dropped down and so did my jaw.</p>
<p>“You asking me to move in with you?” There was no way I was hearing this right.<br/>“I am.”<br/>“If this is a joke man, it’s not funny.”<br/>“It’s not.”<br/>“You – you’re fucking serious.”</p>
<p>Tyse turned fully towards me now, resting his hands over his knees with a serious look.</p>
<p>“I’m tired too, Salem,” he spoke, “Tired of no place feeling like a home. No matter how many times I move, I’m just running away from the same emptiness, and it always follows right on my tail. It’s different with you.”</p>
<p>I stared at him probably looking like an idiot as the reality of his words sunk in. A painfully vivid hope bloomed in my chest.</p>
<p>“But I don’t have any money,” I pulled out my last card in trying to sabotage this for myself, it was too good to be true.<br/>“You do actually. Not enough for a house, but a safety net of sorts. I’ve been putting eight percent of your paychecks to a bank account in your name, in case anything happened to you.”</p>
<p>The man sure knew my spending habits, once it was in, it was out.</p>
<p>“How’d you even pull that?”<br/>“Alice is an evil mastermind. You actually signed it yourself. You should really read what you put your name into.”<br/>“You sly son-of-a-gun… How much do I have?”<br/>“20 G.”<br/>“Twenty – what the hell man, there is no way in hell I have 20 thousand dollars!”<br/>“Not without that account you wouldn’t.”</p>
<p>I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times to try to say something and then drew a breath in and pressed my fist to my mouth.</p>
<p>“It’s still not enough for a house. Or half of a house.”<br/>“You can pay me back. You could give me three percent of your paychecks until you’ve paid for half of it.”<br/>“What about the location? New City is kind of a leap from New York.”<br/>“It doesn’t have to be New City. Just thought some greenery would be nice.”</p>
<p>“I’ll drive you crazy, man.” There it was. The real reason why I was so scared to accept this. It must have taken a lot to be able to be around me this much and then to live with me on top of it all? Insane.<br/>“Don’t you always,” Tyse let out a deep chuckle. I sat there lost for words. I was all out of excuses.</p>
<p>There must have been anxiety in my expression since Tyse rose up to sit next to me on the bed and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.</p>
<p>“Hey man, it’s okay. Only if you want to. No hard feelings.”</p>
<p>Only if I wanted to. Was he fucking kidding me? It’s not like I hadn’t thought about this myself but I’d never dared to suggest it myself.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” my voice was rough and I cleared up my throat, “Yeah, let’s do this.” I glanced at him, still afraid this was gonna vanish somehow, but Tyse was beaming. His smile made the scars on the right side of his sun-kissed face lift up and his eyes had a warm glint in them. He was beautiful.</p>
<p>“It’s a deal then,” he grinned at me and squeezed my shoulder before pulling his hand back, “There have to be some rules though.”<br/>“Rules?” I was allergic to the word but this was too good to not be ready to compromise.<br/>“The bathroom stays clean. And we take turns on the kitchen.”<br/>“Sounds fair.”<br/>“And we get a new couch.”<br/>“What’s wrong with mine? She’s a keeper.”<br/>“She’s grimy and barely holding together.”<br/>“Fine. I need you to let me get wasted when I need it. And no protesting if I’m too tired to crawl in bed and crash on the sofa, the new one, for the night.”<br/>“No complaints there. I need my space. So no panicking if and when we fight and I need to step outside. I don’t mean anything by it, just need to clear my head.”<br/>“Is that it?”<br/>“Yeah, we’ll figure out the rest as we go.”</p>
<p>I could feel a smile creeping up on my lips as we were getting ready to tuck in for the night, me on the single bed and Tyse on the thin mattress beside me.</p>
<p>“New City, huh?” I said out loud.<br/>“Doesn’t matter as long as you’re with it.”<br/>“Breakneck Ridge sounds nice. Don’t expect me to go anywhere near nature in a couple of weeks though.”<br/>“I hear you. ‘Night Salem.”<br/>“‘Night Tyse.”</p>
<p>It was gonna be far from easy, living with me. And I was probably gonna curse about this the first time I was on bathroom and kitchen cleaning duty. But one thing was clear. Tonight, Elliot Salem was officially the happiest man in Tembilahan.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>